I am very very slowly beginning to investigate taking up the cause of the Eagle and do something Romanesque. This will be a longish term project and very secondary to my other activities. Being as I'm still on Guernsey it'd either be as an auxiliary or as a member of the fleet. I'm thinking a dateline of about 140AD give or take (all very arbitrary at present) I might change this as I go on, although all very much up in the air. Anyway if has any advice to offer I'd be grateful, eg things to avoid, etc.

Right, I was rather overwhelmed by the level of interest. I have been raiding the piggy bank buying various books, thus making Mr Sumner a little richer. I've also joined RAT which is an impressive discussion forum. I have decided to focus on 'approximately' 280AD being as that's the estimated year that the Roman ship now affectionately known as the Asterix, sank, probably due to fire caused by who knows what...

I have found that initial kit will probably be a tunica similar to that from Medieval Design (but probably in blue), for my lower half as it's marines I can have footed, non footed or short hose (oops medieval hat on there). I'll need udones or socks, for a short while make do with my Morgan Hubbard boots although a nice pair of Ramshaw style would be better. Belts wise looks like doing it myself with some off the peg buckles. As for everything else a spatha, pugio, a hefty helm and a nice stout stick. Longer term maybe a mail shirt, subarmarlis and what have you. In picking the British Fleet I think I've picked something where you can represent a detachment wherever you are, I'm here in Lissia (Guernsey) but happy to consult with anyone, anywhere.

Well you may have made the publishers a bit richer but I hope you find the books useful. There is not a great deal known about naval uniform and the term uniform is used loosely. So if you do have the Osprey Roman Naval forces book that basically covers what there is, although D'Amato's interpretations generally raise a few eyebrows. However he always provides a lot of pictorial evidence.

The correspondence of Terentianus a recent recruit into the fleet based in Alexandria reveals he was getting quite a lot of goods sent from home, including a pickaxe and a grappling hook! He requests another pickaxe from his father because the previous one was stolen by his immediate superior. It does make you think what the military actually supplied its troops with.

The period you have chosen is a particularly good one historically as far as Britain is concerned. Unfortunately equipment sources are meagre at best. However you could add a couple of cloaks to your list one of which could be of animal skin.